


Condemned.

by AuthorInDistress



Series: I promise myself to my God [3]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Everything mixed together, Explicit Just in Case, M/M, More of the medieval au, no actual sex though fyi, past-abuse, religion and myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-28 20:39:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/996427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthorInDistress/pseuds/AuthorInDistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony came of age three years ago and he remains bonded to Loki. And one day, when he's ready to bind, they will leave the village together. </p><p>And he truly believes that nothing will stop them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Condemned.

**Author's Note:**

> So wasn't this a pain in the arse to write? :L Oh God.

.

The meadow just beyond the border is utterly silent this time of the day. Most villagers are always either asleep or attending to other, quieter matters rather than hunting. And rather than approaching the fires and logs that are only ever needed for the bonding and aging ceremonies.

The fire, larger than any ever created around here, hasn't been lit in a while, however, and the ashes from it's last use still litter around it as a sort of parting from the last child whose life it had either changed or ruined.

It's almost tranquil, the silence and peace of the world out here. Almost _right_ compared to the bustle and shouts of the villagers and to the noises of the animals in the swamp and forest, and the silence is only ever interrupted by -

"Turn!"

The wood around the great fire is scattered into a mess when a horse leaps over it and the ashes fly up in a cloud just as laughter fills the air. Flies buzz angrily when they are then forced to move or else they'd be trampled and birds take flight just as the horse turns again and heads further into the meadow.

Tony holds tight onto Butterfingers' neck as he rides through the yellow grass, ignorant of whatever peace that he has disturbed as he simply enjoys the feel of the wind in his face and the freedom that comes in the mornings; when he's finally able to be alone.

His laughter grows louder when Butterfingers protests the direction that he then tries to take them both and he pats just by his mane to soothe him, squeezing his thighs to urge him left anyway. He's still smiling even when the drums finally sound in the distance and he knows that others will be waking now, so he turns Butterfingers one final time until they can enter the forest's cluster of trees. To hide from view.

Relishing in the calm of the nature, opposed to how it is in the swamp. Out here, far from the village and far from the responsibilities, Tony can be himself just as much as he can when with Loki. The only difference here, is that he can be alone to achieve that.

It's harder to steer the pony without reins in a forest, but ever since finding it lost on a path, Tony has tried everything and anything but Butterfingers still refuses to have them and only chews through whatever Tony places on him. So he'd given up and now simply uses his neck and mane to turn him. Pulling at hairs, at least, Butterfingers doesn't seem to mind. For whatever odd reason.

Closing his eyes, Tony's smile softens and he leans closer into Butterfingers', stroking a line down his neck as they ride together, before eventually slowing when the forest no longer allows them entry further inside. Trees grow too close together and a wolf's howl almost spooks his horse.

They turn back and Butterfingers snorts at another howl, now almost antagonizing it, and Tony laughs at him again, shaking his head.

"You're such a strange, little horse." He murmurs, fondly, sitting up and looking over his shoulder back at the darker areas of the forest. It's these trees that keep the villagers back from leaving here. If ever any of them has even _tried_ to, as Tony has before. He's run away plenty of times but two things have brought him back each time.

The tangle of trees barring his way out. And Loki.

He shuts his eyes.

One day. One day, he _will_ travel through it and he will leave here. He'll leave here and he'll never come back, with Loki, and together they'll never have to see this godawful village again.

One day.

.

Butterfingers plods slowly down the hill as Tony holds onto his mane tight with one hand and aims his crossbow with the other. One eye shut, the other narrowed, he squeezes his thighs to turn them both slightly to the left until he can get the perfect aim -

Butterfingers' so very typically, clumsy hooves knock against the rocks over the ground and the resulting clatter of sound alerts the deer into snapping it's head up, sniffing the air, and bolting back into the meadow.

"Damn." Tony mutters to himself, rolling his eyes and hoisting his bow back up and over the brace on his shoulder and back; urging Butterfingers into a canter now - to give chase. The deer hops, desperately fast, just a little above them both on the rounded hill beside, running and skidding over rocks and mud whilst Tony ducks from anything thrown down and pushes himself up, carefully bracing his knees against Butterfingers' body before standing as they ride together.

He has to balance himself with difficulty, as most horses are not exactly made for _standing_ over when running, and holding onto the back of Butterfingers' neck to help - steering with his ankles whilst tucking his crossbow against his shoulder to aim for the deer's eyes again. He should really be using two hands for this but right now, he just needs a kill and this deer is the first that anyone's seen this season -

Turning Butterfingers, he releases a single arrow and the deer drops immediately.

 _Yes_.

"Whoa," Almost falling from Butterfingers' back when he stops a little too suddenly, Tony jumps down and pats a gentle hand against the pony's nose, "Stay here, boy." He receives a snort in return and when Tony lifts the deer's body up, Butterfingers actually turns his head to the side in disgust and Tony has to pat him again; whispering that it's necessary and that they all need to eat.

Every villager, when above a certain age, must hunt in the forest. Tony came of age three years ago and, surprisingly, hunting is one of the only things that he's actually able to do _properly_ \- in the eyes of his Majester and the Priests - so before anyone else is up to see, he tends to come out and grab the first pickings of the day.

Hoisting himself back up onto Butterfingers' back, Tony steers him toward the village drums, closing his eyes and listening to the music of the wind instead of the call to prayer in the distance - listening to his heartbeat in sync to his horse's as they ride along and forward.

Turning his head west when they reach the border, Tony narrows his eyes when he looks past the marshes and into the swamp, knowing that Loki waits for him for either noon or night. Whichever Tony is able to leave at to go and see him.

He hopes he can sneak out at Noon. Night is becoming too risky for him nowadays. His Majester, though no longer technically his overseer and teacher, still keeps a sharp eye on him whilst abusing her newest pupil. Tony's heart bleeds for the boy under her care now, and wonders if there are any tips or words of advice that he can give to the child.

He doesn't think so. He barely made it out of there himself. Years of beatings, bruises and flog marks, and still she comes to him with her words and her insults; still trying to keep him under her control.

He shuts his eyes, ignoring the spark of anger that the thought of her brings, and focusing on turning Butterfingers into the gate. He jumps off, biting his lip at the whinny that the other horses stir up and hushing the nearest mare with a stroke down her nose. They don't like the sight of another animal's kill and, unlike many of the other boys in the village, Tony tends to cover his kills with either a cloth or with blankets to shield it from the horses that become distressed at it.

"If you keep killing them off like that, there'll be none left for the rest of us."

Tony smiles, tugging the covered deer onto his shoulder and turning to face Rhodey, "What is that, the first deer of the season?"

"Maybe." Tony answers, patting Butterfingers one last time, in goodbye, before walking out of the gate and bumping Rhodey's arm with his free one, "Has anyone else awoken already?"

Rhodey shakes his head, "Only a few of the priests and Majesters." The drums are still beating and Tony tunes them out to listen to Rhodey as they walk. The deer is starting to smell but the huts aren't far. Rhodey glances at him sideways, "A few of them were at Obadiah's grave today, as well. Early morning." He informs him and when Tony shuts his eyes at the comment, he continues on regardless to assure him, "Only a few words and prayers said, however. They just - respect him still, is all."

"Fools." Tony mutters, ignoring Rhodey's warning look and slight grin in response, "Well, they are. Obadiah was not a man to respect. He was arrogant, cruel and disloyal. They are simply blind to people's true natures."

"They spoke of you today as well."

"Of course they did," Tony scoffs, "'Anthony has been neglecting his duties to tend to his Guardian's grave as he should be." He mimics his Majester's crowing voice, making a face, "That boy has no respect for anything and should be flogged within an _inch_ of his life until he can repeat the lessons of his life by _heart_."

Rhodey laughs beside him, hushed now that they're so close to the huts, "Why _does_ she hate you so much?"

Tony shrugs, looking away, "She's a black heart, that's all." He doesn't comment on what they both already know. Tony's Majester has always had hate in her for him but that is simply how she teaches - something he now knows after seeing her new pupil succumb to the same treatment. But now. Even outside of her ‘care’, she still burns this hatred for him and most everyone knows why.

She knows nothing of his bonded.

Tony keeps secrets, something that's not looked well upon, and not a single villager has neither met his bonded nor knows anything of them and yet they cannot force him to take a part in the nights again because they can _sense_ that he has.

They know.

And that only means one thing for them. A stranger.

The word that sends fear into the villager's children and that spawns the evil in every story told. Strangers. Not to be trusted, not to be talked to. And Tony has knowingly, in their eyes, bonded with one. No one trusts him with anything at all now and he has almost become something that others are actually wary of.

And yet, for some reason, he rather prefers it that way. He's left alone, at least. Even if everyone hates him more than they already had before, and -

The both of them are just nearing the center of the huts now, when a cry pierces the air and Tony snaps his head toward the direction of it. Another one sounds and the deer falls from Tony's shoulder onto the crook of his arm before he's even realized he's moved. Automatically. "Did you - ?"

A scream now and Tony takes a step to the side.

"Tony." Rhodey warns, stepping forward to put a hand on his arm but Tony's already dropping the deer into his arms and running in the direction of whoever it is now screaming in pain, "Tony you _know_ you can't - !"

Tony, as usual, ignores his warnings and runs at a speed that at least won't draw attention to him. He knows, he knows he's not allowed and yet he can't help it. No one had helped him, but that does not mean that he won't do the same to others. Turning the corner, he expects a Majester, expects a child crying or a flogging but instead -

But instead he sees five young boys, perhaps around thirteen in age, and in the midst of them a younger one sits on the ground with his head in his hands. The boys kick at his fallen body, tug at his hair and rip an already ripped shirt further down to reveal a large bruise over his collarbone.

Tony swallows, watching, and for a second all he can see and all he can _remember_ is himself at that age being treated the same. He remembers Killian and others tearing his clothes from his body and throwing him face-first into the mud. Remembers them kicking him and taunting his _curse_ and remembers his Majester coming when he screams for her only to turn away and let it _happen_ -

" _Hey_!" The boys jerk to attention, turning as one to face him with wide eyes. Tony glares, bending to lift one of the branches that they must have been using on the boy among them and steps forward, "You have until the count of five, _children_."

One of them glares back and opens his mouth to retort but another shouts out before he can, in fear, "Wait! He - he's the cursed one!" Tony turns his gaze toward him now, narrowing his eyes and making the boy scramble backward before turning quickly running away. It's not long until the others follow and Tony starts forward aggressively until the last of them races away as well.

 _Dogs_.

Immediately, Tony drops the stick in his hands and falls to his knees beside the crying boy, ignoring the mud seeping into his clothes and wanting to comfort but knowing that he shouldn’t be touching him to do that. So he stays, instead, silently waiting until the tears have all gone.

"Tony?" Rhodey skids around the corner but freezes at the urgent gesture Tony gives him, turning back around and hiding behind the nearest hut he can see.

Tony still doesn't say a word and, instead, leans back to remove his jacket from his shoulders to slowly place it around the child before him. That, possibly due to the warmth and show of kindness that it brings, draws the child to least look up at him.

A bruise has made itself known on his cheek and Tony's eyes soften at the fear on his face. When he sees that it is a man that has saved him, the boy immediately wipes at his eyes, his mouth opening to form an apology of some sort but Tony just pulls him closer before he can and pulls his hands down from his face.

"Cry if you need to. No one is here." The boy stares at him, "What is your name?"

There's a long, drawn out pause before the boy finally answers him. His voice is clear, despite the crying, and steady enough that Tony almost smiles, "Harley."

"Harley." Tony nods formally in greeting and that brings a smile to the boy's face. "I'm - "

"Anthony - Anthony Stark. I know." Standing now, he staggers against Tony's arms so - standing himself - Tony helps him up properly, "You ... you're cursed."

"Mm." Tony agrees, as he always does nowadays really. "I was born in famine."

Harley nods, trying to fix his shirt, "So am I." He mumbles, "Cursed I mean." Tony sighs. Of course. "The War in the North has gotten worse and I - was born when Odin declared it begun so. So now that people are _dying_ they - "

"Have put you to blame for it starting in the first place," Tony finishes, rolling his eyes. In shame, Harley nods, looking away and at that - at the simple look that simply _tells_ Tony that he actually believes himself - makes him want to tear everyone in the village _apart_.

He spends far too much time with Loki.

Slowly, Tony sighs and he bends to the boy's height, putting his hands on the thin shoulders. He's crying again. "Harley. Ha - Listen to me, Harley. Listen." His eyes are met hesitantly. But they are met, and that's the important part. "You will not have to be here long. You - _Look at me_. You can leave, alright. You _can_."

"But - "

" _I_ have been cursed. I've named it for all my _life_ , and every day I've been reminded of it." Harley stares at him. "But I _survived_. I survived their torments and I will not stay here to relive any of them again. I've sworn to myself that I will leave and I _will_." He tilts Harley's face up with a finger, smiling at him, "Freedom isn't just a taste. It's _there_. You simply have to have the will to take it."

There's a look of uncertainty on his face. But also some fire. Determination.

"Can you, Harley? Do you have that will?" There's a second. A second where he almost nods, just a second. And a nod would be momentous, it would mean betraying everything that he's ever been taught, would mean betraying his family, his _village_. His God. Tony knows he's wrong in teaching this message but to let the boy live on under the bully hands of his peers, he also knows that his conscience will never allow that of him. But to ask for this, he -

"Harley!" The both of them start and the beginnings of a nod turns into the jerk of a head when Harley spins around to face his mother, "Harley. You know you are not to talk to _him_." Bundling her son into her arms, Tony is pushed aside when Harley's mother pulls at her son's shirt and kisses his bleeding forehead. "What’s happened to you?”

“Mother. He was only - ”

“He was nothing. You don't listen to what he says."

Tony swallows, looking away. The mother continues to warn Harley of Tony's ‘evilness’ and he turns to walk away.

He doesn't, however, miss the way Harley still stares at him as he does.

.

~/p>

.

It's half a day later when Rhodey finally finds him and sits beside him. Dummy is sitting on Tony’s shoulder, claws scrabbling at the nut his master had given him and the bushy tail of his flicking Tony’s chin now-and-again.

The deer has gone now, most likely given to the fire to be cooked. Tony kicks his legs out, his chin resting on his hands and he takes the berries that Rhodey hands to him, dodging Dummy’s claw that reaches for one and moodily placing three of them into his mouth at once.

"So,” Rhodey speaks with his mouth full, “How are you then, O cursed one?" He smiles at him then, nudging Tony’s shoulder.

"Don't do that." Tony sulks still, looking out toward the swamp. As always, in times like this, he only really wants Loki. Rhodey is perfect for someone to talk to during the day but with _Loki_ it's -

Loki is who can make him feel the opposite to how the village does, who makes a curse seem like a gift, who makes Tony feel like _he_ is the God, and as though _he_ is the one worthy of being with when the both of them know that it is something wholly different.

It's noon already, however, and the village is too busy. He cannot go to Loki now, he'll have to wait for night. Damn it all.

"My mother asked of you today." Rhodey prods afterward, changing the conversation and Tony looks up now, "She wishes you would tell her who your bonded is." Tony shuts his eyes. "She's only fearing your safety."

"I know." Tony murmurs, "But please. Tell her - tell her she needn't have to. I - he is. I am safe. Believe me. There is no one I would rather lay my body with than my bonded."

Rhodey sighs, eating a berry himself, "I trust you, Tony, you know this, but ... I worry as well. What is such a secret? You know what they say about information kept hidden - "

"What do I care about what they say?" Tony snaps at him. And suddenly the anger that has been building ever since he'd found Harley before comes spewing out in harsh, bitter tones. He's sick of it. Sick of this _all_. "What do they know?"

"I - "

"All that they have ever said to me is how I will always be nothing, how I will never have a mind to use and that I will never find another to love me. The three things that I have always been determined to do in order to prove them wrong. And haven't I?" Rhodey looks at him, startled at the anger, and Dummy jumps off of his shoulder to bound back into the hut.

If Obadiah had been alive, Dummy would have been crushed immediately. As it is, Tony could never have let the too-small-a-squirrel be left out to die in the winter. He almost stops his rant after scaring the little creature but now, too angry to care, he continues.

" _Haven't I_?” Rhodey is too stunned to answer so Tony does so for him. “I am the _best_ hunter here. In _our_ village _and_ in the three just past us. My mind excels even the _priests'_ knowledge of this world and the next," He doesn't comment on how most of that is due to both his nature and curiosity and to Loki's words and stories, "And I have another that has bonded with me and has even promised more. So what do they _know_."

"Promised more?" Is the only question Rhodey decides to ask after a few moments of bitter silence, "You and he are - ?"

"We are nothing. Nothing that is your business, _or_ anyone else's. I am no longer a pupil of a Majester and I no longer have to abide by the teachings if I'm only to be labeled a curse anyhow! Why _should_ I? My life and my heart is my business and only mine, and I do not have to explain all of my actions to you, to the Majester or to the - !"

Drums sound within the village again and Tony stops immediately. Rhodey won't stop staring at him, won't stop looking so taken back but -

But the drums are more important. This - can wait.

"Luncheon is over, isn't it." Tony murmurs, standing and trying to look past the houses around to see whatever it is that must be going on, "What - ?"

"We won't see here." Rhodey says. Curtly. And perhaps that's justified, so Tony looks down and doesn't meet his gaze. He is sorry, Rhodey hadn't deserved that but - "Come on."

They both walk away from Tony's own hut - labeled that way after the death of his Guardian - and begin to almost run toward the center of the village. Others bustle around and, at the sight of his mother, still a child at heart, Rhodey runs faster to meet her and ask her what she knows. Tony leaves it and walks alone, hunching his shoulders and praying that no one that matters bothers him right now, but he barely even makes it around the corner before he's confronted.

"Is this your doing, Anthony?" Wonderful. Killian. Of all people to see right now, he _has_ to be - "What have you done _now_?"

"Planned your death." Is Tony's snapped answer but he will not look. He won't. There's nothing to say that they will stop when they see the sheer frustration and annoyance already on his face but everything to say that they will only probe all the more.

Killian grabs at his arm before he can leave and spins him around hard. He's alone, Tony realizes, though one of his friends does stand a little off to the side - trying to peer through two, small huts to see the commotion happening around them, "You'd better learn to watch your mouth around your elders," Killian threatens, snarling. Tony tries to yank his arm out of the grip but it's only used to pull him all the more closer, "Unless you'd rather use it for what it's _good_ for with your stranger. Is that where you spend your days, you _whor_ \- " Tony spits in his face, catching his eye. There's a brief show of shock, outrage, and then Killian's drawing back his arm to aims a punch that will likely render Tony unconscious - judging from how much bigger and stronger the man has grown in the last three years.

But he's not the only one who has grown now. Not the only one that can _fight_.

Tony ducks, spinning the grip off of his arm, and swinging one of his own. Killian falls back against the walls of the nearest hut in more surprise than pain but he's forced to stay there when Tony's forearm then pins his throat down.

"Call me that." Tony snarls in his face, daring him. Killian gasps against his grip, staring at him as though Tony is a completely different person, "Call me that word! _Say_ it!" The friend starts forward to push Tony off but when Tony presses against Killian further, he freezes instead and gapes at them both. Killian says nothing, gapes himself, and presses his lips shut. No insults come forward. "Exactly." Tony sneers.

The drums have come to a halt now and murmurs of the crowd of villagers rises up around them.

Tony leans closer to let himself be heard over it. Hisses his threats out; viciously. "Let me make one thing clear for you, _Aldrich_. I’m not a boy anymore. I am not going to be the one you take your anger out on and you will _never_ speak to me again. Do you understand? I took it as a child, and I took it when I came of age, but I am _above_ that time now and I will _not_ tolerate any more of your pathetic attempts at degrading and riling me. Talk to me again and you will regret it, _that_ I can promise you."

Killian coughs when Tony's arm presses harder but he still manages to rasp out, in disbelief and mockery: "You cannot be - serious, you little _rat_."

When Tony had been eleven, Killian had once held him down by his wrists and had spat in his mouth. Had made him _swallow_ with a hand over his mouth. Tony looks at him, unimpressed, and - for good measure, really - lifts up his knee and slams it into Killian's groin. “Try me.”

Killian drops with a silent cry just as Tony slides backward to let him fall and he stays that way, both hands covering himself as he bends his head and flushes from the embarrassment. A low groan comes after a second and the friend stands to the side, a little unsure of what to do and a little put off by Killian's reaction.

Tony walks away without looking back.

No one follows nor attacks him and he feels a sense of pride begin to envelop him. Ever since his bond with Loki, he has ever always felt a little stronger and hardened than the rest of his people. Ever since -

The first night that he had returned, from being in Loki's arms, and from having Loki take him, Obadiah had beaten him immediately when catching him sneak into his hut in the dead of the early morning.

Or really, he'd tried to. Striking him across the face, just the once, had resulted in Obadiah's hand turning a blistering red and he only really noticed the pain of _that_ when he had then tried to kick Tony and had found his leg snapping at the invisible blows that he had then received for harming him. Tony - angry, hurt and so sick of everything then just as he is now, had taunted Obadiah in a fit of justified outrage and hysteria. He had spewed out every insult and every obscene word that he had known and the resulted blows that he'd gotten for his insolence had returned thrice the amount of pain onto Obadiah.

That had been the first time Tony had ever seen Obadiah look at _him_ with fear, instead of the other way around.

A guilty Tony would say that it had been that pain, the pain that had continued to bear him ever since that night, that was what had eventually killed Obadiah. An angry Tony will emphasize that Obadiah had been old and that old men succumbed to pain easier than their more youthful selves would. It had been a logical answer but, as usual, his Majester had been the one to not believe him and had accused him of murder.

After that, it had only been the words of Roberta Rhodes - a mother of whom had vouched for Tony being in her presence when Obadiah had died. And that had been _all_ that had saved him from being burnt before the village.

They had taken him, however, before she had heard, and had poured oil, had piled wood. Tony had almost been passed out from the fear of what had been happening before she'd finally been able to rescue him but even then, it had taken a whole night to discuss before they'd released him. Tony had slept in the rain and in the cold and had shivered and cried and struggled against both his fate and the binds. He had then, in a depressive daze, spent the next few weeks in Loki's company; under the guise that he was ill and in bed.

Loki had, at first, scoffed at Tony's shaking and tears but after seeing how much the sentence of death had affected him, he had wordlessly pulled Tony to him in the water and had told him stories of his life before his own curse. Of how he had been before. Before he had only been a God that has simply been left chained in a swamp. 

Loki had told him that Tony is only beaten and hated so much because he is _feared_. And that one statement has been enough to keep Tony from succumbing to his own fears all these years now, and has built up the _pride_ and the strength in him. Strength that now allows him to keep men like Killian back and away from him.

Killian, who, has still not followed and who is probably still on his knees cupping himself and groaning in pain.

There's still a crowd of people in the center and no one really lets him pass when he tries to look through to see what it is that has everyone so tense. So he goes around instead and it's only when he manages to step around the Van Dyne family to ask their daughter whether she knew what was going on, that he notices how deadly silent it has suddenly become.

He ignores it for a bit, seeing as no one has even noticed him anyhow, so it can't be because of him, but perhaps he really should have stopped anyway because not only does he then walk straight _into_ someone afterward, he walks straight into someone that the village has only ever _heard _of and would never have thought of seeing in person. Someone that Tony had once even had a nightmare about, and - no.__

__No. This can't be real, this - he can't be _here_ -_ _

__A horse snorts in his ear and Tony flinches, staring up at the man that stands beside it._ _

__No._ _

__Glancing down just the once, the son of Odin, Thor, raises his eyebrows at the stagger back Tony scrambles to do when he realizes who it is standing there, before turning back toward the High Priest that he had been heading for in the first place._ _

__Thor. Prince Thor. Odin's son._ _

__No. No, not _now_._ _

__Tony moves back into the line that the people have made - his heart racing uncontrollably - and he ducks his head down when his old Majester glares at him from across the path. He ignores her, however, and lets her think that his embarrassment is because of her silent reprimand._ _

__But it's not._ _

__He isn't embarrassed, why would he be, he's done far worse and has been humiliated before the village hundreds of times. Embarrassment no longer has a part in his life._ _

__No. He isn't embarrassed. Nor is he contrite for causing that slight disturbance, either. He's _terrified_. This is the Prince. Their Kings only - but to Tony's knowledge, _eldest_ \- son._ _

__Their Prince. Here. In the village._ _

__Loki's _brother_._ _

__Tony sucks in breath after breath, forcing himself to not look over toward the swamp automatically. After all, there could only be one reason why he would be here._ _

__Without even consciously causing it, Tony notices that he's shaking a little and he wills himself to stop, looking up and watching as the High Priest and Prince Thor converse together. A royal band of knights and guards and servants stand a little to the side and a blond knight standing to attention catches Tony's eye when he looks over at them all._ _

__He receives a nod and Tony quickly looks away before returning it._ _

__There's a shove at his shoulder and suddenly Rhodey is back, nudging Tony a little to the side to make room for him, "What do they want?" He murmurs into Tony's ear._ _

__Looking back at the blond knight, Tony blinks when their eyes meet again and almost blurts the truth out in his fear that Thor and his men _know_ , but he catches himself in time and lies, "I don't know."_ _

__"The Priest's are all so tense, it's like - " They're hushed and Rhodey apologizes before turning back to continue anyway but then -_ _

__"Anthony Stark."_ _

__Then Tony is summoned._ _

__Oh God._ _

__Both boys stiffen as one when Tony's name is called out and, on cue, the crowd parts now and the line that Tony stands in slides backward to reveal him to whoever it is that had summoned him. Rhodey stays beside him for as long as he can but when the Priest holds his hand out for Tony to walk forward to take, he's forced to step backward as well to stop himself from getting into any kind of trouble for no good reason._ _

__Swallowing, Tony clenches his shaking hands and steps forward as commanded, his gaze pinned on the Priest's cold face. He ignores the prickle on his neck that tells that the blond knight is still staring at him and takes the hand reaching for him._ _

__He's tugged forward immediately and turned to face the Prince. And God, he's tall. Is Loki so tall as well? Half under water, it's always been so hard to tell and while it's probable that Loki is taller than Tony, being as tall as _this_ could -_ _

__"This is the boy." The Priest declares and Tony actually stops breathing._ _

__Thor looks down at him, titling his head to one side, before sighing when he apparently sees whatever it is that he's looking for on Tony's person, "Your High Priest, Anthony Stark," Tony swallows again, trying to keep his face blank, "Tells me that it was _you_ that discovered the, ah. The "Great" snake in the swamp." Breathing slowly, Tony doesn't take his eyes off of Thor before nodding as calmly as he can manage. Thor's face flickers with something rather similar to surprise and Tony's heart turns into ice. He knows. He must. "I would like for you to show me just where, then. So that I may see it for myself."_ _

__No. No he _can't_. What does he do, what - ?_ _

__"I - " Tony's eyes dart between both of Thor's and he curses his stammer, "I cannot do that. Sire."_ _

__Thor raises his eyebrows, his beard moving with his lips when he smirks down at Tony, "Hm. I'd thought that you might say something like that." And that's when Tony looks away. The villagers around are all either staring, glaring or ducking their heads when Tony's eyes find them but it's better than Thor's blue - "Walk with me, then. Last - of the Stark family."_ _

__It's an order. Not a request._ _

__Tony stays resolutely still, however, when Thor then turns to the High Priest once again, "We will likely be here for a while. My men will cause your people no harm but if we do notice any oddities, they will, of course, take the required action."_ _

__"Of course." The Priest nods, his eyes on Tony. Tony stares back at him. "But if it is a guide you need, sire, there are plenty of other, better - "_ _

__"The Stark boy." Thor continues over him, referring to Tony as though he isn't even there, "Does he live alone?"_ _

__The Priest opens his mouth but Tony's renewed pride decides to make itself known before he can and he answers for his own self, "Yes. My guardian died a year ago."_ _

__Thor looks at him again, blinking slowly, and Tony is comforted a little by the fact that his eyes are so different to Loki's. They both, however, narrow in a similar way. "Then my first knight and I will reside there while we stay."_ _

__Damn._ _

__"Oh, Sire," The Priest starts, alarmed and glaring at Tony's own stunned face, "But there are many empty and larger huts that we can - "_ _

__Thor turns away from the Priest's assurances that there are _much_ better places and people to live with than the cursed Anthony Stark and, despite the insult, Tony desperately wishes that he'd listen._ _

__But his hand is snagged in the crook of Thor's large and muscled arm anyway and he is made to walk alongside him past all of the other villagers until they both reach the band of men at the end. Rhodey meets Tony's eyes as he passes and they both share a frightened look before Thor leads Tony further away._ _

__He then, subtly, tries to pull his hand out of the grip but he's actually _lifted_ off the ground when the older man reaches for his sword at the same time. His discomfort is ignored, however - even when he hisses and strains to remain at least on his toes - and he grits his teeth when he's not even put down immediately, looking over his shoulder at the spatter of villagers that are staring over at them all whilst being both assured and shooed by the Priests and Majesters._ _

__Rhodey stands there like he wants to come over and when a knight of Thor's sends him away he even protests a little, looking at Tony with fear, but eventually Roberta is told to escort him out. Tony keeps back the whimper that threatens to slip out when he notices that he is now alone._ _

__With the Prince. The Prince of all their world._ _

__"My lord." Tony snaps his head up when the blond knight steps forward, nodding in a gesture toward Tony and Thor lowers his arm when he 'realizes' what he's been doing, "The men and I will scout the village. Ask if they have seen anything."_ _

__Tony's heart hammers hard in his chest and he tries to think, he _needs_ to think, or else Loki will be found and he'll never -_ _

__He pauses._ _

__Wait. Isn't it - "It's Advent day." He blurts and everyone looks at him. Thor releases his hand and takes him by the shoulder, pushing him forward until he stands in the circle that his men have made, "I - the ceremony is tonight."_ _

__Thor looks at him and another knight, blond as well, though not as large as the one that continues to stare at Tony, leans over to murmur in his ear. "So it is." Thor then says, looking up at the sky and noticing with them all that is has grown darker. "Good. Our absence will at least remind the people that we have other matters to attend to here."_ _

__"No, that isn't what I was - "_ _

__"Captain." The blond with the staring issue steps forward, "Take Anthony to the swamp's border. I will be there in a moment and we three of us will look for this," He looks at Tony, his cold, blue eyes boring into Tony's brown, " _Snake_."_ _

__And, certain of it now, Tony knows that it is not the reptilian one that they are after._ _

____

.

~

.

Tony sits on the ground with his knees up and his arms wrapped around them. The Captain - Steven Rogers - had given him a coat to wear but his shivering is really nothing to do with the cold so there hadn't been need for it.

His fear bubbles in his stomach, in his throat and in his head, and he hunches over further - feeling as though he's about to vomit. Why now? It's been years since Tony has met Loki, why now does his brother want to find him? What's happened?

"Captain Rogers." Tony snaps his head up when Steven walks forward, taking the rope from Thor and slinging it around his waist in a loop. Bending, he holds out a hand to help Tony up and - despite the fact that Tony has resolutely ignored every start of conversation that the man has given him - he still smiles when it's taken. The rope is then looped around his waist and then Thor's, connecting them, "Lead the way." Is the command given to Tony and, blinking twice to look down, Tony slowly steps backward into the mud and slides his way into the water.

There's a splash when Thor and Steven follow him in and the drums of the ceremony start in the village when they begin to wade forward.

"Left." Thor orders when Tony tries to deceive them in turning right, "Do not try to fool me, you know what it is I'm looking for. We go left."

Tony turns left obediently and, thinking quickly, he looks over his shoulder as well; a pretense of confusion planted over his face, "I - thought we were looking for the snake, my lord?" There's no answer but the Captain shares a look with Thor, raising his eyebrows. In response, Thor simply frowns darkly and gestures that Tony look where he's going and continue on.

So he knows the way then. If he knows the way, then Tony can't lie and trick them into a different part of the swamp, but if he takes them there then they'll _see_ -

"What do you know of the royal family, Anthony Stark?" Tony swallows, clearing his throat and looking at a croaker instead of Thor when he answers.

"What do you mean? ... My lord."

"Who are we? My family?"

"Y - well. There is the King." Tony answers, his breath hitching when they begin to near Loki's rock, "Odin. His wife, the Queen Frigga. And - their son. You. Prince Thor."

Splashes behind alert him to the fact that Thor is speeding up and Tony tries not to react to that, "And what else?"

The trembling in his fingers is too obvious so Tony shoves them under the water and wades further in, "I - didn't know there was anyone else, sire. I - "

"Thor." The Captain holds out an arm, pointing, and they all look as one up toward the black rock where Loki's chains dangle from. Tony is too focused on the fact that Steven had called the Prince by his name only, as though they are friends, that he almost doesn't notice what it is that has both the men beside him so tense.

And then he sees.

The rock is empty. Loki isn't there.

Wading forward some more, Tony is forced onward as well when the rope around his waist tugs him along, but - there's nothing there.

There's - He openly stares, in shock.

How - ?

Almost falling into a blur of panic, Tony sucks in a sharp breath when something warm and soft skims between his ankles underwater and when he realizes what it is, he breathes a sigh of relief, turning back toward Thor and Steven, "The Snake." He declares, pointing at the body. Hoping they don't decide to look for the head of it as well - he isn't sure how long Loki can stay under.

Thor narrows his eyes, looking at it and then at Tony. He picks at the chains, pulling them up and left a little and, below the water, Tony's ankles are grabbed when Loki is dragged backward by the movement. He smothers back a cry with his lips, looking as expectantly as he can at the Prince instead, "Is ... there something else you are looking for, my lord?"

Glaring over at him, Thor releases the chains and nods to Steven that they leave. Tony waits until the rope around them all has spread a bit before looking back and leaning to the side to let Steven pass, careful not to comment on the fact that the man's hand is on the handle of his sword.

"Send word to my father," Thor murmurs to Steven before Tony and when they both see him listening, the conversation abruptly ends and they wade together in tense silence. Looking back through a gap in between rocks, Tony sees a faint glimpse of Loki's hair rising to the surface.

.

~

.

Prince Thor, lord of the middle kingdoms, ruler of village money and trade, and heir to the throne; snores.

So loudly, in fact, that Tony has had to press the blankets around his ears twice to try to block the sound out. At first, a cold sense of nervousness had enveloped him when, immediately after returning, Thor had simply declared that Tony will arrange room for him and his knight to sleep in his hut and that they will all rest _now_.

But after being told he cannot sleep in his own bed, for the Prince _must_ have a bed, and that the Captain will take the other room - Obadiah's bed - as well so that Tony must sleep on the floor by the windows instead, the nervousness has gradually become annoyance, irritation and then just plain hatred for both of these men in his house.

Looking out at the sky from where he lies, Tony at least knows that they are asleep thanks to the snoring and to the fact that he checked on the Captain before sliding his leather boots on and sneaking out of the door quickly.

He runs, not walks, to the swamp for fear that any other knight will see him from where they litter the village but he makes it there safe and slides into the water as quietly as he can, cursing the lack of time and increase of risk that having a lantern would cause. Feeling his way in the swamp in the dark is something that no one really wants to do but right now, he doesn't really have much of a choice.

Loki is mostly in water than out when Tony finds him and whatever rant about the Prince that Tony has on his lips vanishes when he then sees the pure exhaustion written into every area of Loki's body.

"Loki." He murmurs, softly, gliding forward into the water to place both hands on his chest, pushing upward, "Wh - How long were you under there?"

Loki grunts, pulling away in annoyance at the care - which is something Tony’s learnt by now to mean that he doesn’t want him to worry - and leaning heavily against the rock behind him, his hair fanned out and his eyes half-shut, "... Food?" He asks and the one-worded question alone scares Tony more than today has in every way. He shakes his head with regret, skimming a finger down the side of Loki's face.

"I brought you a meal yesterday," He whispers, coming closer and cupping Loki's face with both his hands, looking into his eyes. They begin slide shut completely, "Loki? Loki!” Startled awake again, Loki scowls at him and then grimaces, “Loki, what is it? I - you've eaten already. And there are no new wounds tonight, I - I don't understand - "

"My brother." Loki croaks, his voice rasp and low, his mouth slack when Tony leans in to kiss him, "I heard his voice ... "

Tony nods, pulling Loki's hair from his face and wrapping his other arm around his chest tucking his head underneath Loki's chin, "Yes. He was looking for you."

"Of course he was." Loki scoffs, and beside Tony's ear, his pulse is slow. With a grunt, Loki stretches his legs beneath the water and explains, "His - presence is a poison toward my strength. I - my _curse_ is bound to him and he - " Loki hacks out a cough and Tony holds him tighter, wishing he'd brought some clean water with him. He’s never seen Loki ill before, but he hopes that that is all this is, and nothing else.

Tugging at Tony’s hair, Loki spits out his next words in anger now, "What does he want?"

"I don't know." Tony whispers, closing his eyes and skimming a line down Loki's bare back, “He was looking for you but I don’t know why. I don’t know what he knows.” Loki’s shoulders relax a little and Tony hums against him, curling his ankles between Loki’s chained ones, "How do you get your strength back? I can do something to him, to make him leave, make him - "

Coughing again, turning his face to one side, Loki's grin is weak and halfhearted, "You care too much for me."

"Well, no one else is here to." Tony defends himself, kissing Loki's chest. Ever since their bond, Loki's distaste and view over the 'far too sentimental' gesture of kissing has amused Tony and has led him to try to do it at every opportunity.

"Hm." Stretching a little again, now strengthened in a way already at having Tony here with him, Loki sighs and places a hand on the back of Tony's shirt, pulling it up and off of him. Shivering against the cold on his suddenly bare skin, Tony looks at him with a raised eyebrows, "Indulge me."

Loki’s view and urge to _take_ , however, has only ever grown since that night.

"Your brother is in the village." Tony says dryly, hoisting himself up onto the rock and lying down, rolling to face Loki with his cheek resting on the crook of his arm.

"Well unless you believe your screams can carry over to his ears, I don't see why I should care."

"Loki. Your _brother_. The Prince." Loki looks at him and with an exasperated sigh, Tony leans forward in disbelief, "He is _in_ my _hut_. And he knows. I could tell, he knows. Even though he couldn't find you, he knows that there's something going on here and if he discovers us he’ll - "

Loki kisses him, a finger titling Tony's face up to make his lips a little more accessible and then Tony is opening them and letting Loki's tongue slide over his own. He moans, leaning up and curling his fingers into Loki's wet hair, letting the distraction take him because thinking of this all will only -

Loki plants his hands beside Tony's body and pulls himself out of the water, still kissing Tony and leaning over him completely now. He slips however, weak still and Tony sits up, helping him back onto the rock.

"Is he doing it on purpose?" Tony asks, startled and worried. Loki grits his teeth, shaking his head, "Does it hurt much?"

"Oh yes." He grunts then, sliding down and Tony follows to make sure that he doesn't fall beneath the water but Loki's hands find his anyway and the both of them are dragged down then. Tony sucks in a gasp, falling against Loki's thigh and squinting into the water. He comes face-to-face with the snake's head and whirls backward, finding Loki's hands and turning away.

His eyes are shut again.

Cold grips Tony’s throat and he surges forward, his hands lifting Loki's face and his lips pressing to his, breathing into his mouth and letting the only air that he has himself be shared. Loki's eyelashes flutter against his face as they both float upward, the chains dragging and it's then that Tony realizes just how much strength must be used to keep himself upright all the time; with all that metal wrapped around everywhere.

No wonder he's always so tired.

How long? Tony asks whatever entity must listen to their thoughts. How long until he is ready for marriage? How long must Loki go through with this?

"Loki - " Tony gasps when they surface, his hands scrabbling to lift his face and to see if he's still awake. Loki blinks blearily at him but closes his eyes again. "No - " Pulling back a hand, Tony backhands him hard and his wrist is grabbed and used to slam him into the rock, "Ah - ! _Loki_!" The fire in Loki's eyes burns out when he comes to his senses and he releases the wrist but doesn't otherwise move. "I … Are you alright?"

The moon is covered briefly and suddenly all that Tony can see is the sharp green to Loki’s eyes; the light that Loki believes is only full of evil and cruelty but that Tony thinks is full of beauty and mystery.

"No. I am not." Loki leans forward, his head resting on Tony's bare shoulder, "My curse is for a lifetime. My punishment non-revocable, non-negotiable. Thor - should _not_ be here. Why - what does he _want_?"

"I don't know." Tony whispers to him, stroking his fingers over the shorter strands of hair on the back of Loki's neck, "I - "

"I should have killed him.” _Don’t talk like that._ Please. “When he’d stood there, just above me, I should have - !" Tony kisses him as distraction this time. Loki growls into his open mouth, turning them both around and lifting Tony onto the rock, kissing him harder and longer, gripping Tony’s arms and leaning over him to -

" _Ahem_."

Tony's neck cracks with how fast he whirls his head around and Loki's fingers dig tight into his wrists.

Oh My God.

Soaked from the swamp's water and clearly very, very surprised, Captain Rogers leans against the tree that he's most likely been stood beside for quite a while yet.

And neither of them had noticed. Damn. Damn, damn, _damn it_!

"So you have bonded, then." Loki's arms wrap tighter and Tony finds himself being turned, placed behind him in an unusual display of protectiveness. Spells to help Tony is one thing, but this - ? Loki doesn't even have a _sword_ and he's weak himself right now, he's - "Your brother did wonder. We could sense it on Anthony here, too."

Tony slides his hands around to curl over both Loki's shoulders from behind, staring in shock at the Captain.

"Should you not be running around writing my brother's tales of 'victory' somewhere?" Loki drawls, one hand finding one of Tony's on his shoulder and squeezing.

Steven tilts his head to the side, looking at him, "I'm not a scribe anymore, Loki.” They know each other. Loki’s never mentioned any - “I'm a knight now. You, however, I can see haven't really changed much, have you." Glancing at Tony, he grimaces, "You still like to manipulate the innocent into doing what you want."

"Innocent?" Loki echoes, smirking, and Tony tries to focus more on that than at the word 'manipulate'. He’s not been. "I doubt that word suits him."

Well, perhaps he did manipulate, then, at _first_ , but surely now he's -

"Let go of him."

"He's not keeping me here against my will." Tony snaps, trying to come forward but Loki's body keeps him back, "If we are bonded, then so what? He's still chained, and nothing else has changed here, what does the Prince want with him? He's done nothing - "

"You have no idea about _anything_ he's done, you're just a boy!” Steven snaps back, the anger he’d been covering now suddenly blurting out and Tony recoils backward, “You've barely just come of age and you've bonded with a God thousands of years older than you, can you not _see_ how out of your depth you are here? And even before, you were protecting him, hiding him from us. We are on _your_ side here."

Tony glares at him, ignoring the prickle of unease that slides up his spine. Loki is silent beside him. "I don't care."

There’s a cold silence and still, Loki says nothing, and instead seems to be pondering over Steven’s words.

"Prince Thor is here to separate your bond." The Captain then explains, slicing Tony’s heart in two with only a sentence, and just looking so very _disappointed_ in him, "Loki cannot be released, so _you_ cannot marry him. _Yes_ ,” He adds at the shock on Tony’s face, “Of course we know what it is the two of you’ve got planned. We simply needed to make sure that it was true that he had bonded. His - curse revealed that to us immediately.”

It’s suddenly very difficult to breathe.

The curse had revealed to them - is that, then why Loki hadn’t wanted to _bond_?

Tony turns his head to stare at him in shock. He had known about this, then. He can see it on his face, he must have -

Bonding had revealed this all to his family. To the King. Loki had harmed his own escape plan by helping save Tony from his bonding night and had never told him of the true reason himself at all since; despite it being the perfect opportunity for him to make Tony feel worse about himself.

Something an angry Loki does from time to time. He had never said it, however, had kept that to himself because -

Because he cares. Guilt flushes over Tony’s skin and he hangs his head behind his lover.

“His mother will arrive here soon,” Steven continues, oblivious, “And she will be the one to divide your souls. Magic - " He glances at Loki, "Is more her specialty, after all."

Loki looks down, so angry and yet so _submissive_ over all of this that Tony suddenly want a sword for himself, if only to be able to turn it against the Captain in his rage, "You cannot do that!"

"Be grateful that this will be done in secret." Steven snaps, "I've already heard from villagers about how 'cursed' you are. Letting them know that you were planning on releasing their most feared God will hardly do anything to help, will it?" Tony's blood runs cold and he sags against the rock, "It will be better this way, anyhow. Because of Loki, you've neglected your duties. Without him here, you can continue as normal. You can stay here, we'll ensure it."

No. No, this is all wrong. This is all so _wrong_.

Tony doesn't say a word but everything piles up anyhow and emotion decides to take it's own drive and creates a sob in his throat. He presses a hand over his mouth to hide it, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably as - as all his plans, all his _everything_ , is torn apart.

Beside him, Loki slowly looks up at the Captain at the sound of Tony’s whimper.

There's a pause where Steven even almost looks apologetic but when he opens his mouth to say so, Loki suddenly jerks out an arm and yanks Tony closer to him, pressing his face into his chest and keeping him there.

Tony gasps and blinks, trying to breathe in and suddenly irrationally terrified that Loki is going to kill him now that their plan will no longer work -

A flash of light around them both causes him to cease struggling and he freezes, waiting for a few moments before carefully trying to peer past Loki's fingers when nothing else happens.

Loki holds his head tight and Tony’s lips part at what he sees.

Blood swims out toward them in the water and he swallows his tongue when it touches his bare stomach. Looking up, Steven stares at him, a hand at the gaping wound in his side and his blue eyes glazed with pain.

Without a single cry of pain nor a wordless shout, he slowly slides backward into the water.

"No - !" Tony shoves Loki off of him, swimming away from the rock and quickly diving under, wrapping his arms around Steven's waist and hauling him back up as best he can, "Loki, you - "

"Leave him." Loki snarls, "If he returns to my brother with this knowledge then they will only - "

"You cannot just kill him!"

“I can.” Loki glares, his eyes dark.

“Loki,” Tony snarls back, "I know of your murders and I know what you say you are, but if you truly _want_ for me to think of you as a man and not a monster then _don’t_ do this."

Lok’s teeth are bared as he floats there, breathing heavily. His face is flushed, anger coloring his eyes but the look of uncertain fear that had flickered in them before, at Tony's threat, is what spurs his lover to come closer.

"Loki." He breathes, struggling to keep Steven afloat, "If you only wish for me to be here simply because I'm your only way out of those chains, then tell me now and I will leave and allow your mother to separate us.” Loki looks at him. "This man needs care and I can either do that here or leave and find help for him. So if you care for me like I believe you do and think of me as more than just your escape, then please. _Tell_ me."

Steven groans against Tony, his hair sticking to his face and blood billowing around him. Tony stares at Loki.

He doesn't move. Doesn't speak.

Nothing much else happens and Tony’s face shutters blank.

“So be it.”

Turning away, his heart a rock of ice instead of a beating warmth within him, Tony tries to half drag half wade Steven along through the swamp.

"You are a fool Anthony." Loki calls after him and he stops, turning to look at him, "When he awakes, you will only be put into chains just as I have been."

"At least I know I will not have killed a man." Tony answers, lifting his head and glaring. Loki doesn't break their gaze but Tony has to before he continues, "And at least I know, that in love, I have also been the only one that's been true - "

Water splashes him when Loki starts forward.

"You think that after all this time I have _nothing_ for you?" He snarls at him, wading as far as he can toward him, "You think that _love_ and _care_ is something that has escaped me?” Tony doesn’t say anything. “You cannot _bond_ , Anthony. Without love."

Staring at him, Tony doesn't move himself. Not until he knows for certain. "Do you, then?" He whispers. The moon shines down again, covering them both in white, eerie light. "Am I nothing or _something_ to you, or not, Loki?"

Looking down and swallowing, Loki turns his face to one side and mutters bitterly under his breath, "Of all mortals. Of all to come across me and to _stay_ despite everything, the most irritating and stubborn of them had to be the one to find _me_." Tony lowers his eyes, but he must have unconsciously floated nearer because Loki’s hand is able to cup his face and lift it to meet his, "Anthony. If I did not love you, then it would be you lying beneath the water now. And it would be your blood covering my skin."

Steven groans again and that is when Tony realizes that he's crying. Silent tears rolling down both cheeks and he wipes at them quickly, still not moving, not until -

With a frustrated growl, Loki holds out his hand, "Bring the _Captain_ here." Tony's shoulders slump in pure relief and he pulls the man forward with him, "His wound can be healed easily. Put him on the rock." Tony does so, his arms bumping against Loki's, "I will erase his memories also but that will not rid us of my brother. _You_ , devil, will have to think of something yourself."

Tony's heart lightens and he leans his head on Loki's shoulder, smiling at him, "Thank you."

Loki doesn’t say anything to that, not for a while, before -

Touching a finger to the necklace around Tony's neck, Loki kisses him once, both tenderly and angrily, before whispering a threat against his still open lips, "If you ever threaten to leave me here again, I will wrap these chains around you and keep you here myself."

Tony's tongue darts out to lick Loki's bottom lip, startling him, "Against my will?"

Sighing, Loki turns away and places both hands on Steven's chest. "You will hardly be unhappy here."

No. Tony smiles again.

With Loki, he hardly ever is.

.

~

.

They dump Steven's newly-healed and sleeping body beside the Snake's corpse and leave him there for the night. Loki lifts Tony onto the rock and curls a strand of his hair with a finger over his forehead.

"I'm sorry." He apologizes, surprisingly, and Tony kisses him in forgiveness, "I did warn you, however. Of what a mo - "

"Moran you are?" Tony interrupts, smiling when Loki scowls, "Monkey? Mortal?"

Sighing, Loki rests his forehead on the rock beside Tony's arm and, laughing, Tony skims a hand down his bareback.

"How do you do this?" He whispers softly, "How do you make me so angry, make me feel so hurt, if only for me to forget it all moments later?"

Loki lifts his head but doesn't answer and when Tony's eyes begin to droop and his exhaustion over the day seeps into his bones, Loki's fingers find his face once again and his thumb skims over Tony's bottom lip. 

Thor will still be there tomorrow and they will still have to deal with every issue that he has brought with him. But for now, it is just the two of them.

And it's just as Tony falls asleep that Loki murmurs the words that he's been yearning to hear for _years_.

The words that end all of this finally.

_You are ready._

.

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies if this isn't what was expected but I hope you all enjoyed anyhow <33


End file.
